Ain't No Thing Like Me
by Finmonster
Summary: Months have passed since the Night Howler incident and peace seems to have returned to Zootopia. But now someone is flooding the streets with a powerful new narcotic and to get to the bottom of it, Nick and Judy will need to enlist the help of some less than savory characters from Nick's past. Are they in over there heads or will they find out just how deep this rabbit hole goes?
1. On the Case

**Ain't No Thing Like Me**

 **Chapter 1: On The Case**

The angry red display of the alarm clock ticked up to five thirty, causing it to commence blaring it high-pitched electronic wail. The alarm clock was only able to sing it's song for a few moments however, before a hand quickly reached out and shut it off.

The owner of the hand, a grey, female rabbit with purple eyes, sat up in her bed, rubbing the sleep and yawning as she did. Blinking her eyes clear, the rabbit smiled as she glanced around her apartment, still dark with pre-dawn gloom. It was almost ridiculously small, consisting of one room with only her bed, a desk and a bureau for furnishings. Save for a few personal touches, the apartment was spartan, with a bare wooden floor and walls covered in peeling wallpaper.

Still, the rabbit smiled. After all, it wasn't much, but it was hers.

Hopping out of bed, she quickly dressed for the day, not bothering to turn on the light, as she knew the cramped space by heart. When she was done, she was dressed in light blue, high collared shirt and navy blue pants held up a black utility belt. Along with this, she wore a black, armored vest, bracers, knee guards and spats that left her toes exposed. A golden badge in the shape of a shield with the words "Zootopia Police Department" was pinned just above her heart.

Double checking the pouches on her belt, the rabbit smiled to herself before walking to her door, opening it, and promptly letting out a short yelp of surprise while taking a short hop into the air as she found someone standing directly on the other side.

As she landed a short distance away, the rabbit was able to get a better look at the other animal as they were backlit by the lights in the hall. The animal was a male fox with the telltale red and brown fur. He wore a police uniform much like hers and regarded her with bright green eyes and a sly grin.

"Morning, Carrots," the fox greeted smoothly before he held up one of the two steaming paper cups in his hands for her to see, "Coffee?"

"You scared the crap out of me, Nick," the rabbit replied, clutching her heart as she took a few, calming breaths, "How'd you get into the building?"

"Someone was nice enough to buzz me in," Nick replied with a shrug before slowly shaking the coffee cup at her, "Now, do you want to coffee or not, Judy?"

"I don't really drink coffee," Judy replied as she walked back over to Nick, "Rabbits have enough energy as it is."

"It's carrot flavored," Nick said in a singsong voice, holding it close enough to Judy's face that she could smell it. Judy's nose twitched as the aroma wafted up it as she settled a level glare at Nick, who only grinned back at her. Finally, after a long moment, Judy rolled her eyes at Nick and snatched the coffee out his hand before taking a sip. As the warm liquid flowed down her throat, Judy's eyes went wide with surprise.

"Wow, Nick, this is really good," Judy commented.

"Told you," Nick replied as he took a sip of his own coffee before he nodded down the hall, "Come on, we don't want to be late."

Together, the two police officers made their way across the bustling metropolis, passing by mammals of every description as they went. Using the city's public transit system, they made their way to the heart of the city. Walking out of one of the stations for the subway system, the two found themselves in a large, sunny plaza dominated by a singular building at its center. The building was tall and imposing, with a circular shape and constructed of dun colored stone. A short flight of stairs led up to the main entrance where a sign displayed prominently above the door read "Police."

"And so I say, 'Howler? I barely even know her!'" Nick exclaimed as he and Judy walked out of the subway station, causing her to break into a fit of laughter.

"That's a good one, Nick," Judy replied as she caught her breath and wiped a mirthful tear from her eye.

"So, whatever happened to Flash?" Nick asked curiously.

"Last I heard, he had got his driver's license suspended," Judy answered.

"Ouch, how long?" Nick questioned as they walked up the stairs towards the front of the building.

"About a year," Judy answered as they stepped into a huge open foyer from which multiple hallways branched off of and continued deeper into the building, "Turns out this wasn't his first offense."

"Looks like Flash will be getting a taste of what it's like on the other side of the DMV," Nick observed with a wry smile.

"Morning, Nick!" The receptionist behind the front desk, an overweight cheetah, greeted sunnily, "Morning, Judy!"

"Good morning, Clawhauser!" Judy replied with a smile. As she did, a beeping came from Judy's pocket. Looking down in surprise, she fished her phone out of her pocket and looked at it, chuckling as she did. Looking over her shoulder, Nick saw Judy's phone displaying a picture of her and another rabbit.

A male one.

His eyes narrowing, Nick a slight step forward to get a better look. The picture showed Judy, looking a few years younger than she did now, taking a selfie as she kissed a male, brown furred rabbit on the cheek.

"Ooo, what's that?" Clawhauser cooed with curiosity as he looked over Judy's other shoulder.

"Just a picture that popped up on my social media," Judy answered with a small smile.

"Who's that guy?" Nick questioned, his tone neutral.

"Him?" Judy replied, glancing up at Nick and cocking an eyebrow, "He's just an old boyfriend from back home in Bunny Burrow."

"Ooo, old flame?" Clawhauser questioned with a big grin.

"Sort of," Judy replied with a shrug, "We didn't work out though. It happens."

"You were probably too much for a country bumpkin like him to handle," Nick commented with a shrug, prompting both Judy and Clawhuaser to turn their attentions towards him, "What?"

"You should be careful, Officer Wilde," Judy stated with a smirk, "That sounded like something dangerously close to a compliment."

"What can I say?" Nick replied with a casual shrug, "I like to live dangerously."

Judy chuckled and shook her head as she began walking away from the desk, putting her phone away as she did. Nick moved to follow her, but stopped as he noticed Clawhauser eyeing him with a large grin.

"What?" Nick questioned, looking at Clawhauser in confusion, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You like Judy," Clawhauser stated, pointing an accusatory finger at Nick as he spoke.

"Well, yeah," Nick replied, looking at Clawhauser like the cheetah was stupid, "She's my partner and friend."

"No, no, no," Clawhauser said quickly, waving one paw about in dismissal, "I mean that you're attracted to her."

Nick froze at the comment, his eyes going wide as a few hairs on his head and tail began to stand on end. In response, Clawhauser let out an excited gasp as he covered his mouth with both paws.

"You are!" Clawhauser whispered excitedly.

"I'm not!" Nick hissed, his ears going flat and his eyes narrowing as he glanced around.

"You are!" Clawhauser replied in a sing-song voice, punctuated with a giggle.

"I'm not!" Nick snapped, his voice echoing through the high-ceiling building, prompting everyone passing through the room to stop and glance over at him in confusion. Ducking his head in embarrassment, Nick glanced around at the people looking at him, including Clawhauser who seemed to be doing his best impression of the fox's own smug grin.

"Come on, Nick!" Judy called, tapping her foot against the floor impatiently as she looked back at the fox, "We need to get to the bullpen. Chief Bogo won't like it if we're late."

"Right," Nick replied bashfully before he walked over to Judy's side, "Lead the way, Carrots."

Judy rolled her eyes at him before the two began making their way across the room and down one of the side hallways. Eventually, they came to a room near the center of the building from which the sounds of energetic conversation emanated from. Entering it, they found a room set up similarly to a class room, with a series of tables and chairs, all sized for mammals larger than Nick and Judy, facing the front of the room, where a podium sat before a map of the city. The room was already full of Judy and Nick's fellow police officers, mostly made up of either predators like wolves, tigers and bears or large herd animals like elephants, rhinos and hippos. Making their way to the front of room, Nick and Judy found an empty seat at the front table and both hopped into it, the chair large enough to accommodate them both.

As soon as they were seated, another door leading into the room slammed open and a water buffalo dressed in a police uniform came marching into the room with a grim look on his face.

"Alright, alright, settle down," the water buffalo, Chief Bogo, commanded, causing the conversations between the officers to stop as everyone gave the mammal their full attention.

"No special announcements for today," Bogo stated, holding up a pile of files as he spoke, "So, I'll just get straight to handing out your assignments for the day."

Bogo proceeded to hand out various assignments to groups of officers, giving brief explanation of the cases as the officers walked to the front of the room to collect the files.

"Hopps, Wilde!" Bogo called, prompting Judy and Nick to hop out of their chair and make their way to the chief, "Got one here you might be interested in."

"Why's that, chief?" Judy questioned as she took the file from Bogo.

"Because it seems to involve Night Howlers," Bogo answered, a grim look on his face.

"Night Howlers?" Nick said in surprise before letting out a tired sigh as Judy quickly took the file and began flipping through the file, "You've got to be kidding me."

"Does it look like I'm joking, Wilde?" Bogo grumbled at Nick.

"I'm sorry, sir, I forgot you had your sense of humor surgically removed," Nick replied with a wry smile, earning a snort from Bogo as the fox turned his attention towards his partner, "So what is it? Savage predator attack?"

"No, a rhino actually," Judy replied while reading over the file, "Rocky Steadherd. Member of the Rawhide Bike Club. Any idea how he got infected, chief?"

"Yeah," Bogo answered gravely, "He did it to himself."

A silence so complete you could hear a pin dropped fell as Nick and Judy looked up at Bogo in shock.

"Excuse me?" Nick questioned quietly.

"Seems that somebody has figured out how to mix Night Howlers with Nip," Bogo explained, "They're calling it Primal. According to users, it makes you feel invincible."

"How invincible are we talking?" Nick inquired cautiously.

"McHorn was the arresting officer," Bojo elaborated, "Said he put three tranqs in the guy and still ended up with a broken arm."

"Three tranqs!?" Judy exclaimed, "Those are designed to take down an elephant!"

"You can imagine how McHorn felt," Bogo quipped.

"We have to get this stuff off the street," Judy said as she turned her attention back to the file.

"You let the detectives in Vice worry about that," Bogo replied, "What I need from you two is more immediate. Steadherd's dealer is still out there, dealing this poison. I want him stopped and I want to know who his supplier is. I need you two to bring him in."

"You can count on us, sir," Judy replied, snapping to attention and giving Bogo a salute, prompting Nick to do the same.

"Good, now get rolling," Bogo replied with a solemn nod before turning away from the partners and walked out of the room.

"Come on, Nick," Judy said, hitting the fox lightly on the arm to get his attention before heading out of the room as well, "We need to go get the cruiser."

"We'll probably want to know where we're going before we get the car," Nick pointed out as he fell into step next to Judy.

"The file has the transcript from Steadherd's interrogation after they arrested him," Judy said as she flipped to the appropriate page in the file, "The only thing they could get out of him was that he bought the Primal somewhere in Savannah Square."

"A whole sector of the city, huh?" Nick replied sardonically, "Boy, that narrows it down."

"I know," Judy stated with a sigh, "We can probably narrow it down further to somewhere near the bar where Steadherd was arrested. Here, there's a photo of the crime scene."

Looking over Judy's shoulders, Nick took in the sight of the picture depicting a cordoned off area outside a rough looking dive bar. As he looked, Nick's eyes suddenly widened in surprise as he spotted something before he took the file out of Judy's hands.

"What is it, Nick?" Judy asked in confusion, looking up at her partner as he took a closer look at the photo, "What do you see?"

"I see something better than a crappy bar," Nick answered with a grin as he held the photo up for Judy to see, pointing at a specific part of the image, "I see someone who will know exactly what we want to know."

Narrowing her eyes, Judy looked closely at the area of the photo that Nick was indicating to, but saw nothing but a pair of feet among the group of onlookers captured in the background of the picture.

"You can tell who that is by their feet?" Judy questioned dubiously.

"You kidding, Carrots?" Nick quipped as he shut the file and began making his way down the hall, prompting Judy to follow him, "I'd know those gum shoes anywhere."

 _Later,_

The elevator opened on the fourth floor with a ding and Judy began walking down the hall of the office building. Reach a corner in the hall, she found the door she was looking for and stopped in front of it.

Before Judy was a simple wooden door with a frosted window set in it. The window gave a vague impression of what lay on the other side of the door and on its surface, etched in black lettering, were the words "Duckfield Detective Agency."

Judy reached out, turned the knob and stepped inside.

The office was a simple one, consisting of a wooden desk that faced the door with a swiveling chair situated on the other side of it, a row of windows set into the wall behind that. The rest of office was furnished with a few filing cabinets, two chairs on the opposite side of the desk and a small table on which a coffee maker sat, all designed for an animal roughly her size. A closed door in the wall to her left led into another room.

"Hello?" Judy called out, her purple eyes scanning the room.

"Sorry, just a minute!" a voice called from the other side of the door, "Is this the delivery? Because I've been waiting on those damn curtains for two weeks now!"

"Uhm, no, sir," Judy continued as she stepped into the office, " I'm Officer Judy Hopps with the ZPD. I wanted to ask you a few questions."

"Oh," the voice answered with a surprised tone before a long pause fell between the two, "Uh, like I said, I'll be out in a minute."

This was followed by the flush of a toilet and the sound of a faucet being turned on. Sighing slightly to herself, Judy crossed her arms and began impatiently tapping her foot against the floor. A moment later, a loud creaking sound came from behind them door, accompanied by a muttered expletive.

"Sir?" Judy said, taking a few steps towards the door while cocking a curious eyebrow, "Are you alright in there?"

"Y-Yep, I'm fine!" the voice replied, grunting with what sounded like exertion, "Don't worry about-agh!"

As the voice's words were cut off by a surprised shout followed by a metallic clang, Judy's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Sir, I'm coming in!" Judy announced, squaring herself before kicking the door near the knob, cracking the wood around it and causing the barrier to fly open. Before Judy was a small bathroom, no larger than a closet. Across from the door was a toilet while to her left was a sink, the spout still spewing water into the basin. To Judy's right, a window set into the wall sat wide open, the distinct sound of feet pounding against metal emanating from beyond.

"Hey!" Judy called as she rushed to the window, sticking her head through just in time to see a figure descending the fire escape on the other side.

"Stop!" Judy shouted as she pulled herself through the window and began rushing down the fire escape, the figure already a few floors below her.

The figure was breathing heavy as he reached the bottom of the fire escape, using the ladder at the end to descend to the ground of the back alley it led to. Before he could finish though, an empty soda can suddenly came flying through the air and hit the figure on the head, startling him and causing him to lose his grip on the ladder. Letting out a yelp of surprise, the figure plunged through the air before landing in an open trash can at the bottom of the ladder. The force of the landing caused the trash can to turn over and go rolling down the alley before it came to a stop as someone placed their foot against it.

Groaning in disorientation, the animal inside the trash can stuck his head out before his eyes managed to focus on Nick standing over him, smiling smugly.

"Morning, Howie," Nick greeted in return, lowering the sunglasses he wore so he could look the other animal in the eye, "Now, where are you off to in such a hurry?"

"Nick," the animal spat as he began pulling himself out of the trash can, "I'd heard you'd gone straight. Still not sure I believe it."

"It's the truth," Nick replied, pointing to the badge pinned to his chest as evidence.

"You've always had a funny way with the truth, Nick," the animal said as he started pulling himself to his feet, "So forgive me if I don't immediately trust you at your word."

"Fair enough," Nick replied with a shrug, his smug smile still plastered across his face, "But you can trust my actions. Like for instance, I could tell my partner that you have an unlicensed tranq gun in your office. She's a very by the book type and I'm sure she'd love to have a reason to drag you down to the precinct after the stunt you just pulled. A few hours in lock-up will probably show you how truthful I'm being."

"Alright, alright, eesh, don't get your tail in a twist," the animal complained as he started to dust himself off, "So, that was your partner who came into my office?"

"Yeah, and I think she has a few questions for you," Nick replied, turning his attention towards the fire escape as Judy finished climbing down the ladder and hopped to the ground.

"He give you any trouble?" Judy questioned as she jogged over to Nick.

"No way, Carrots," Nick replied with a shake of his head, "Easy as pie, just like I told you."

Turning towards the other animal, Judy was able to take him in for the first time. To her surprise, the animal was not a mammal at all but a bird, a duck by her estimation. He stood roughly as tall as Nick, his body covered in white feathers save for his flat, orange beak and his similarly colored legs and webbed feet. He was dressed in a three-piece burgundy suit with his short tail sticking out of his pants. He also had a hat to go with the suit, which he was currently picking trash off of.

"Oh, right, let me make introductions," Nick said with a chuckle, "Howie, meet Judy Hopps, my partner. Carrots, meet Howard Duckfield, private investigator."

"Charmed," Howard replied as he placed his hat on his head, his expression anything but.

"What's a duck doing in Zootopia working as a PI?" Judy questioned in confusion.

"What's a bunny doing working as a police officer?" Howard snapped back, his blue eyes narrowing at Judy, "You're a little far from the farm, aren't you, sweetheart?"

Judy glared at Howard, her hands tightening into fists as she moved to approach the duck, only for Nick to place a hand on her shoulder to stop her.

"Now, now, Carrots," Nick said with a chiding but friendly tone, "We need to ask him questions, remember?"

Judy shot Nick an angry look before taking a deep breath and easing herself back, crossing her arms as she turned back to Howard.

"Well, if you've got questions, I suppose it be easier if we did this in my office," Howard stated as he turned to make his way out of the alley.

"It would have been quicker if you hadn't run from me," Judy pointed out as she and Nick followed Howard.

"Look, toots," Howard said, stopping and turning to look back at Judy, "You stay in this game as long as I have, and you'll find out that not everyone with a badge is exactly an upstanding citizen. I'm pretty sure you ran into a situation like that pretty recently, didn't you?"

Judy's mind flashed back to the ram officers who had assaulted her and Nick before a realization struck her.

"Hey, how'd you know that?" Judy questioned as they continued walking.

"I read the paper," Howard replied with a snort, "It doesn't take a detective to realize there's only one bunny on the force, Officer Hopps. Now, how about we keep the questions to ourselves until we get to my office?"

Judy glared at Howard's back as he led Nick and her through the building's front door.

"I don't like him," Judy muttered to Nick.

"He's just a little grouchy right now," Nick replied with a shrug, "Trust me, he's a friend of mine."

"Which is probably why I don't like him," Judy grumbled, earning a snort of amusement from Nick.

"Trust me, we're lucky," Nick continued as they made their way into the building, "We could have run into someone who wants me dead."

A/N: What's this? Another new story? Yep, I've been taking some time to put down some ideas I've had in my head for awhile. Or, for this one, a few weeks or so. None the less, I hope you guys like it! Also, it should be mentioned that the idea for Nip (as in catnip) as a drug came from the story, Zootopia: At Our Core. Go give it a read! As always, feedback and critiques are always welcome, so please review! Later!


	2. Private Investigations

**Chapter 2: Private Investigations**

Back in Howard's office, Nick and Judy had taken the seat's facing the duck's desk while he the bird sat in his own chair opposite them.

"Alright, so what, exactly, did you want to ask me?" Howard questioned with a sigh, having placed his coat and hat on the coat rack by the door.

"Rocky Steadherd was arrested outside a bar last night after attacking a police officer while high on something called Primal," Judy answered as she pulled out her notepad and carrot-shaped pen, "The crime scene photos that were taken show you there. Can you tell me why you were there?"

"I was working a case," Howard replied curtly.

"What was the case?" Judy inquired as she jotted down a quick note.

"These things tend to be pretty sensitive for my clients," Howard stated, "It doesn't look good if I just go around divulging the info to just anyone who asks."

"Well, we're not just anyone, we're the police," Judy replied in a business-like matter, "And it would probably look even worse if we had to come back here with a warrant."

Howard gave Judy a withering glare before sighing and rolling his eyes. Opening a drawer of his desk and reaching into it, Howard retrieved a file before he tossed onto the desk. Taking the file, Nick opened it and began flipping through it.

"Patricia Packider," Howard stated as the officer's looked at the files, which contained a number of photos of a teenaged hippo going about her day, each one clearly taken at a distance, "She's the daughter of a vice president of some company or other."

"You're following her around and taking pictures of her?" Judy questioned, giving Howard a disgusted look.

"Don't look at me like that, cottontail, it's the job," Howard grumbled, "I was just keeping tabs on her for her father."

"Why did he want you tailing his own daughter?" Judy inquired.

"I think I've got the answer to that question, Carrots," Nick spoke up as he held the file so Judy could see it. On the top of the pile was a picture of Patricia lounging on a couch with a rough looking rhino, his arm around her shoulders.

"Steadherd," Judy whispered in surprise before she looked back at Howard, "She was….dating him?"

"Guess she thought he was dangerous," Howard replied with a shrug, "One of those bad boy girls like her are always fawning over because their daddy's don't approve."

"So that's why her father had you following her?" Judy questioned.

"Her and Steadherd," Howard confirmed, "He wanted me to try and find something incriminating about the guy so he could get his daughter away from him."

"Seems like he took care of that for you," Nick observed with a smirk.

"Yeah," Howard chuckled, "Lucky for me, I get paid in advance."

"So, that explains why you were at the bar last night," Judy surmised, "Did you see anything?"

"I saw a lot of things," Howard replied, "You're going to have to be more specific."

"Did you see Steadherd take the Primal he had?" Judy questioned with an annoyed sigh, "Or, better yet, did you see where he got it from?"

"I did see him take it, though I wasn't able to get a picture of it," Howard explained, "He got into an argument with another biker, shoved something into his mouth, and went savage."

"Can you elaborate on that?" Judy requested.

"Sure," Howard replied, and though his voice was calm, Judy noticed a nervous tension enter his body, "It was like the animals you saw during the Night Howler crisis but somehow worse. He got all tensed up and his muscles bulged, like they were trying to break out of his skin. His eyes turned white and I swear it looked like his heart was trying to fight its way out of his chest. That wasn't the worse of it though."

"What was?" Nick questioned, growing more tense as the story went along.

"It was what didn't happen," Howard explained, "When he changed, he went crazy, but he didn't go savage."

"What do you mean?" Judy inquired.

"I mean, he got angry," Howard elaborated, "Like screaming-at-the-top-of-my-lungs, flipping-tables angry, but he didn't lose himself in it. He didn't forget who he was and turn into some sort of wild animals like the savage predators did."

"He was in control?" Judy questioned, her eyes widening in surprise.

"As much as anyone that pissed off can be in control of anything," Howard clarified with a nod, "He went through the guy like a locomotive and took a few of the guys friends down too for good measures. Don't want to know what would have happened if the cops hadn't shown up."

"I'm starting to get the feeling that this is bigger than Chief Bogo thought," Nick muttered to Judy.

"All the more reason for us to get this stuff off the street," Judy replied before she turned her attention back towards Howard, "Did you see where Steadherd got the Primal?"

"Luckily for you, I did," Howard replied, "I noticed this real shifty character enter the bar, looked more out of place then I did. He talked with Steadherd for a few minutes and I saw them make an exchange."

"Can you give us a description of the dealer?" Judy questioned eagerly.

"I can do you one better," Howard replied with a smug grin as he pointed a feathered finger at the file Nick was still holding, "I caught a picture of the deal going down."

His eyes widening in surprise, Nick began flipping through the file again before he stopped on a particular photo, squinted his eyes at it and let out a bark of laughter.

"What is it?" Judy questioned, leaning over to look at what Nick was laughing at before her eyes widened in surprise, "You're joking, right?"

"What is it?" Howard asked curiously.

Pulling out the photo, Nick laid it on Howard's desk so the duck could see. The image depicted Steadherd giving money to a disheveled looking weasel who was handing him a small baggie containing some unrecognizable substance.

"I take it you know this guy?" Howard questioned, quirking a feathered eyebrow at Nick.

"Duke Weasalton," Judy explained, "He's a lowlife crook who was involved in the Night Howler incident. Looks like he's got his dirty paws in this as well."

"Well, I have to say, you've been a lot of help, Howie," Nick said as he pushed himself out his chair.

"You two off to find this Duke character?" Howard questioned as he picked up the photo and idly played with it.

"Yes," Judy answered as she stood up as well, "This is an excellent lead. I'll make sure my report reflects how helpful you were."

"Thanks," Howard replied with a small smile, "How are you going to find him?"

"Put out an APB for him," Nick answered, "Probably comb the streets around his usual hideouts."

"I think there's probably an easier way of finding him," Howard stated as he propped his webbed feet up on his desk.

"How so?" Judy questioned as she narrowed her eyes at Howard.

"I could tell you where to find him, seeing as I know where he lives," Howard suggested with a smug smile.

"You….You know where he lives?" Judy questioned incredulously, "Why didn't you say anything before?"

"Because, I've been in this business long enough to know that you just don't give that sort of information away," Howard continued, his smile growing as he spoke, "At least, not for free."

"You-You expect us to pay you!?" Judy sputtered in disbelief before she gave Howard a furious glare, "This is obstruction of justice! If you think for one second, we're going to pay you-"

"Hundred bucks," Nick interrupted, causing Judy to spin around so fast that the fox was briefly worried she had given herself whiplash.

"Nick!" she exclaimed, "What are you doing!?"

"Two hundred," Howard argued.

"One fifty," Nick countered, a smirk growing across his face.

"Done," Howard agreed as he stood up from his chair and began putting on his jacket, "I'm guessing we're going to take your car?"

"Sure thing," Nick replied as he nodded at Howard, "We'll meet you down there."

"Just make sure you two lock up after you leave," Howard stated as he put his hat on and walked past the police officers to the door of his office.

"Will do, buddy," Nick replied as the duck left, before turning to Judy to find the rabbit glaring at him, "What's the matter, Carrots? Do I have something on my face?"

"What do you think you're doing!?" Judy hissed at him, "Why are you bribing him!?"

"I'm not bribing him," Nick answered with a role of his eyes, "He's an investigator, Carrots. I'm giving him money to do his job."

"He's obstructing the law in order to make a quick buck!" Judy argued, "We should be prosecuting him!"

"Alright, and how long do you think it's going to take to get a warrant or anything else we could use to force him to help us?" Nick countered, "I'll tell you, long enough for the trail to go cold. We have jump on this as quickly as possible and trust me, greasing the wheels makes things run a lot smoother."

"Be that as it may, this is still bribery, Nick," Judy stated, some of her previous heat leaving her voice.

"Come on, Carrots, you went to the academy," Nick admonished with a roll of his eyes, "You know what a consultant is. There is an expense account for this and everything. We catch the bad guy, and Bogo foots the bill. Everyone wins!"

Judy gave him a dubious look but Nick knew that she had no more room to argue with him. After a moment, Judy let out a tired sigh as the tension seemed to leave her body.

"I guess you're right," Judy sighed as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"I usually am," Nick replied with a smug grin that made Judy roll her eyes.

"You know, as helpful as he is, I don't think I really like this friend of yours," Judy commented as she stepped out of Howard's office.

"Give him time," Nick said as he locked the door and closed it behind them, "He'll grow on you."

"I'm sure," Judy snorted as she began walking down the hall, "How long did it take for you?"

"I don't know," Nick answered with a shrug, "He's still growing."

 _Later,_

"This is the place," Howard said from the back of the police cruiser, prompting Judy to pull the vehicle along the curb.

Parking the car, Judy looked up at the building. It was a rundown structure, as were many of the other buildings on the block, with boarded up windows and graffiti sprayed across some the walls.

"Homey," Nick commented as he lowered his sunglasses to get a better look at the building, "Definitely looks like some place Duke would hang out."

"He's up on the top floor," Howard explained as he looked out the window at the building as well, "There's a two story apartments up there."

"Living the high life," Nick commented as he opened the door and stepped out of the cruiser.

"Sounds bigger than my apartment," Judy grumbled as she got out of the car as well.

Howard moved to follow the partners, but was stopped when the door refused to budge. Trying the handle again, he found that the door was locked.

"Hey!" Howard called, causing Judy and Nick to turn back to him, "What's the big idea!?"

"The backdoors of police cruisers don't open from inside," Judy explained.

"Besides, why do you want to come in?" Nick questioned, "You got us here and we'll pay you what we owe you. Now, why don't you sit tight while we go and grab Duke?"

Howard sighed in annoyance and settled back into his seat.

"You could have at least cracked the window!" Howard called as Nick and Judy turned around and began making their way into the building.

Together, the two of them made their way through the building, which was just as run down on the inside as it was on the outside. Wearily, Nick and Judy made their way to a staircase and began making their way cautiously up them. They building was silent as the partners made their way up to the top floor, neither of them spotting any signs there were any other animals in the building.

Reaching the top floor, Nick and Judy found only a landing in front of a pair of doors, one hanging precariously off its hinges. The partners glanced at one another before moving to either side of the door, resting their shoulders against the frame and drawing their tasers.

"You ready, Carrots?" Nick questioned.

"Wait," Judy replied as she glanced between Nick and the door, "Shouldn't we get a warrant first?"

"For an abandoned building?" Nick asked, arching an eyebrow at Judy, "Duke clearly isn't supposed to be here. There's nothing stopping us from going in there and arresting him."

"Right," Judy agreed with a nod, her features solidifying into a mask of grim professionalism, "You ready?"

"I was born ready," Nick replied while flashing a cocky grin at Judy.

Readying themselves, Nick and Judy stepped in front of the doors before giving them a hard kick, the loose door falling to the ground with a loud thud.

"ZPD!" they both shouted as they held up their tasers. However, instead of being greeted by one or more unsavory characters, Nick and Judy found an empty hallway before them, the red targeting lasers of their tasers cutting through the gloom before them.

"Well, that was a bit of a let down," Nick commented as he lowered his taser.

"You're sure your friend gave us good information?" Judy questioned as she glanced over at Nick.

"I'm sure," Nick confirmed with a nod as he stepped into the hall and began looking around, "For all we know, Duke is out on the town right now."

"We should search the premises," Judy stated as she stepped into the hall as well.

"Yeah," Nick agreed with a nod, "It'd be quicker if we split up to search both floors."

"You sure that's a good idea?" Judy questioned while giving Nick a nervous look.

"Come, Carrots, it's just Duke," Nick answered with a chuckle, "You handled him fine on your own the first time you met him. And I was taking care of myself way before I started hanging out with you."

"Alright," Judy relented with a smirk, "You take upstairs and I'll take downstairs?"

"Sounds good to me," Nick agreed with a nod before making his way down the hall until he found a set of stairs leading up and looked back at Judy, "Radio if you find him."

"You too," Judy replied with a nod.

Nick nodded in reply before he began making his way up the stairs, taser at the ready. The second floor of the apartment was much like the first, with bare floors and empty rooms, the walls sporting cracked molding and spots of mildew. The whole floor was completely silent save for the sound of Nick's breathing and his feet quietly padding across the floor.

Suddenly, a scraping noise came from one of the rooms, causing Nick's ears to perk up and his head to snap around to look in the direction of the noise. Raising his taser in front of him, Nick cautiously made his way into the room.

The room was much like the others had been, lacking any sort of furniture and mostly covered in a fine layer of dust. It's one distinguishing feature though was that it possessed a closet, the door closed tight.

Smirking, Nick quietly made his way over to the closet, his taser focused on the closed door. Reaching the door, Nick paused for a moment as he leaned closer to it, his acute sense of hearing searching for any sign of what may be in the closet. For a moment, Nick heard nothing, before he caught the sound of a quick intake of breath and smiled. Stepping forward, Nick grabbed the knob with one hand and yanked the door open.

"Freeze!" Nick shouted as he leveled his taser at the weasel hiding in the closet. He had dirty, reddish-brown fur that stuck out in every direction and a wild look in his wide, brown eyes. He wore a dirty white wife-beater along with a pair of blue cargo shorts and looked to Nick like he was about to shake apart at the seams as he clutched an olive green duffle bag tightly to his chest.

"Wait, please, don't-!" the weasel began to shout as he tried to put as much distance between himself and Nick as possible, only to abruptly pause as he took a moment to actually look at the fox standing in front of him, "Oh, wait, it's you."

"Yep, it's me, Duke" Nick commented with a smirk, keeping his taser trained on the weasel with one hand while reaching towards his radio with the other, "Why don't you come out of there? My partner and I have some questions we'd like to ask you."

"I can't," Duke replied, his voice so full of terror that it immediately caught Nick's attention, causing him to pause as he reached for his radio.

"Why not?" Nick asked as he quirked an eyebrow at Duke.

"He's still here," Duke answered as he began shaking again while nervously glancing past Nick.

"Who is?" Nick questioned, his brow knitting together.

"The bounty hunter," Duke replied, his voice quivering.

"What bounty hunter?" Nick pressed, confusion clear on his features.

"The racoon," Duke answered, his voice barely above a whisper, "He's here. In the apartment."

Nick's entire body immediately went rigid as his eyes widened and the hair on his tail and the back of his neck stood on end.

"Oh no," Nick whispered as a look of horrible realization crossed his face, "Judy."

Then, without another word, Nick spun around and raced out of the room, leaving Duke alone in the closet.

At the same time, Judy was creeping through a large, open room on the lower floor in search of clues, the boarded over windows casting the room in dim light and shadows. Pulling out her flashlight with one hand, she flicked it on and began scanning the room with it, her other hand holding her taser at the ready. As she looked around the room, she saw that one of the doors to the room led to a bathroom, the light of her flashlight bouncing off the dirty mirror within.

As she scanned the floor with her flashlight, Judy paused as something caught her eye. Lowering herself to one knee, Judy placed her taser on the ground and pulled a set of tweezers out from her belt. Reaching out, she plucked a strand of fur off of the floor and held it in the flashlight's glow. It was mostly black, though she noted hints of grey and brown in it as well.

"Weird," Judy said to herself, "This doesn't look like Duke's."

Suddenly, her radio crackled to life.

"Judy!" Nick shouted over the radio as pounding feet sounded from above, "There's someone else here! He's extremely dangerous! He's-"

Judy stopped listening as she heard someone drop down directly behind her. Her eyes widening with fear, Judy dropped her tweezers and reached for her taser, but froze as she felt something cold and hard press against the back of her head accompanied by an ominous clicking noise.

"Don't," a rough voice from behind her ordered, "Unless you think what this place really needs is a blood splatter on the walls to bring it together."

Doing her best not to move, Judy glanced over at the door leading to the bathroom. Looking at the mirror in the bathroom, Judy could just make out the mammal standing behind her in the dim light cast by her flashlight. He was a raccoon, standing roughly as tall as Nick with black and brown fur that turned to grey around his brow and muzzle. He wore an orange t-shirt under a black leather jacket along with a pair of black jeans.

What caught Judy's attention though was the gun he had pressed to the back of her head. Not a taser or a tranq gun but a true, highly-illegal firearm. Not only that, but it was a massive, obviously modified handgun, one that looked like it was designed to be used by a tiger or buffalo, not someone of the raccoon's size. Nevertheless, the raccoon held it easily in one hand, a second, identical weapon strapped to his back.

"Now," the raccoon said as he followed Judy's gaze and locked his eyes with Judy, letting her see, to her shock, that they were pure red with no pupil, "Let's you and I talk."

A/N: Wow, I was not expecting this story to be as popular as it turned out to be. Happy you guys liked it! This chapter ended up being a lot of fun to write. Hope you guys enjoy it as well! As always, feedback and critiques are always welcome, so please review! Later!


	3. Rocket

**Chapter 3: Rocket**

"E-Easy now," Judy said, slowly raising her hands up for the raccoon to see as she fought to keep the fear out of her voice, "Don't do something you're going to regret."

"The way I see it, if I pull this trigger, it won't be me that regrets it," the raccoon replied far too casually for Judy's liking.

"I'm a cop," Judy stated, "I would hope that might give you pause."

"You might be disappointed by my response to that," the raccoon answered.

As the two of them spoke, the sounds of someone running down the stairs echoed through the apartment, prompting the raccoon to unholster the other gun on his back and point it at the doorway just as Nick appeared.

"ZPD!" Nick shouted as he leveled his taser at the raccoon, "Freeze!"

"Will wonders never cease?" the raccoon commented with a grin, "Is that Nick Wilde I see over there? In a cop uniform?"

"Hello, Rocket," Nick greeted tersely, his eyes darting between Judy, the raccoon and the guns he had trained on the both of them.

"That's it?" the raccoon, Rocket, questioned with a snort, "That's all I get? No witty one liners? Come on, that's not the Nick Wilde I know."

"You know this guy, Nick?" Judy questioned, glancing back over her shoulder at her partner.

"Sadly," Nick said with a sigh as he kept his weapon trained on Rocket, "Carrots, meet Rocket O'Coon, gun for hire. Rocket, meet Judy Hopps, my partner."

"Partner?" Rocket questioned, quirking an eyebrow at Nick while he glanced back at Judy, "So what they've been saying is true, huh? Ol' Nick's gone straight?"

"Yep," Nick replied as he reached up and tapped the badge pinned to his vest, "Officer of the law now."

"You still have that price on your head?" Rocket questioned as he angled the gun towards Nick's face.

"Uh….no actually," Nick answered nervously, "Mr. Big and I sorted that whole thing out."

"Pity," Rocket replied as he lowered the weapon slightly, "I could use the extra cash."

"What are you doing here, Rocket?" Nick questioned hesitantly.

"Probably the same thing as you," Rocket answered, "I'm looking for Duke."

"Why are you looking for him?" Nick inquired.

"Come on, Nick," Rocket chided with a grin, "I'm hired to find people and shoot them, not to talk."

"You know I can't let you leave here with him," Nick stated firmly.

"It's cute that you think you have a choice in the matter," Rocket chuckled, "Now, where's the weasel?"

"He's right here!" Duke giggled, prompting everyone to look down the hall, spotting the weasel standing by the doors leading out of the apartment, his olive green duffle bag slung around his shoulders, "Making his escape while you all stand there comparing your-"

Duke was cut off mid-sentence as the doors suddenly flew open with a bang. Spinning around, Duke found a figure roughly his own height standing on before him, their features obscured by the baggy black hoodie and pants they wore. What caught Duke's attention though was the automatic rifle the stranger carried in their gloved hands, the barrel held even with the weasel's chest.

"Oh no," Duke whispered in horror as the stranger clicked the safety off.

"Down!" Rocket roared before he turned away from Nick and tackled Judy to the ground, prompting Nick to the throw himself into the room and to the side of the doorway, trying to use the wall as cover. The second Judy and Rocket hit the floor, a series of thunderous barks erupted from the doorway, accompanied by splintering of wood and the sound of metal casings showering the floor. The noise was deafening, and it took all of Judy's willpower not to scream as she covered her ears with her hands, Rocket's weight holding her to the ground.

Then, just as quickly as it had started, there was a loud, metallic click and the cacophony subsided.

Rocket sprung up in an instant, rolling off of Judy and onto his feet in a single, smooth motion. As he did, he pointed his guns down the hallway where the stranger was busy pulling the duffle bag off of Duke's bullet riddled body laying at his feet, ignoring the pool of blood slowly forming around the corpse. Hearing the click of Rocket's guns, the stranger quickly yanked the bag off the weasel's corpse before ducking behind the doorframe as Rocket opened fire.

Unlike the stranger's rifle, Rocket's guns were not a continuous cacophony of noise but instead a series of loud cracks for every time he pulled one of the triggers. The bullets fired from the guns bit deep holes in the wooden surrounding the door, causing clouds of splinters to fly into the air with every impact. As he was firing his guns, Rocket advanced down the hallway, looking to get a better firing position on the stranger. Seemingly aware of this, the stranger ducked under one of Rocket's shots before running up to the stairs and vaulting over the railing, landing on the level below.

"Damnit!" Rocket swore as he ran up to the railing and looked down, snarling as he saw the stranger rushing down the staircase, "Get back here, you bastard!"

Snarling in frustration, Rocket placed his guns back in their holsters before he took off down the stairs. At the same time, Nick had moved over to Judy's side and was helping her to her feet.

"You okay, Carrots?" Nick questioned worriedly.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Judy replied as she brushed Nick's hands off of her, "Where-"

Judy's words died in her throat as her eyes fell on Duke's body, her hand flying to her mouth as her expression turned to one of horror. Closing her eyes, Judy turned away from the sight and took a few deep breaths to regain her composure.

"Where did they go?" Judy questioned quietly.

"They both ran downstairs, probably headed towards the exit. I'm going to-" Nick began to say before he reached out and grabbed Judy's arm as she tried to move away from him, "Where are going?"

"I'm going after them," Judy replied sternly as she turned back towards Nick.

"Are you crazy!?" Nick hissed as he nodded at Duke's body, "Do you want to end up like him?"

"There's a crazy mammal out there with a gun, Nick!" Judy argued as she pointed towards the door, "Someone has to do something!"

"That's what backup is for!" Nick snarled, "If you go out there by yourself, one of them is as likely to shoot you dead as look at you!"

"One of them saved my life!" Judy shouted.

"Saved your…." Nick started to say in confusion before he let out a bark of incredulous laughter, "He had a gun to your head Judy, and trust me, if you had given him a reason, he would have pulled the trigger."

"How do you know so much about this guy anyway?" Judy questioned.

"I've had runs in with him before," Nick explained, "He's an ex-soldier. A mercenary in every sense of the word and he's dangerously unhinged."

"All the more reason for someone to go after them," Judy stated as she slipped out of Nick's grip and took off running for the stairs before he could stop her again.

"Judy, wait!" Nick shouted after her before growling in frustration, "Dammit."

Reaching towards his shoulder, Nick flicked on his radio.

"Dispatch, this is Officer Wilde," Nick announced, "I have a one eight seven at forty two Wallaby Way. Officer Hopps is in pursuit of suspects. First suspect is an unknown mammal in a black hoodie and black slacks. Second suspect is Rocket O'Coon, a raccoon wearing a black leather jacket and jeans."

Nick paused as his eyes fell on Duke's body.

"Be advised both suspects are armed and dangerous," Nick said into his walkie-talkie, "I repeat, armed and dangerous."

At the same time, Judy had reached the bottom of the stairs and went rushing out of the apartment building. Reaching the sidewalk, Judy whipped her head around in every direction, looking for any sign as to where the two mammals had gone.

Suddenly, a loud knocking sound caught Judy's attention. Turning towards the source of the noise, Judy found Howard frantically banging on the window of the cruiser. Having caught her attention, Howard began wildly pointing at something across the street. Looking in the direction that Howard was pointing, she saw that there was an alleyway cutting between two buildings directly across the street. Looking back at Howard, she nodded in understanding before she turned her attention towards the alley and ran across the street towards it, drawing her taser as she went.

Reaching a turn in the alley, Judy slowed to a creeping walk as she approached the corner. Placing her back against the wall and holding her weapon at the ready, Judy slowly peeked her head around the corner. As she did, a shot suddenly rang out from down the alley, causing Judy to reflexively flinch backwards, shutting her eyes as a bullet tore through the corner she had been looking around, sending shards of masonry flying into the air.

"Ha!" Judy heard Rocket's voice float from around a corner, "Where the hell did you learn to shoot?"

"ZPD!" Judy shouted back down the alleyway, "Both of you, put your weapons down and come out with your hands up!"

"Oh great," Judy heard Rocket mutter with a sigh before he said loudly, "Can't you see we're having a conversation!?"

A second after he spoke, another shot rang out, causing Judy to flinch away again, though she didn't hear the bullet impact anywhere close to her.

"More officers are on their way right now!" Judy shouted down the alley again, "We can do this without anyone getting hurt if you just put your weapons down!"

"You know, I don't think I speak for the both of us, but I get the feeling that that's not really going to work out," Rocket called back to her.

After he spoke, another bullet shot past the corner, impacting a nearby wall with a loud crack.

"Yeah, I think that was him agreeing with me!" Rocket shouted.

"This will go a lot easier if you both just give up!" Judy yelled back.

"Man, you just don't know when to quit, do you!?" Rocket yelled with a laugh, before the roar of his gun echoed down the alleyway.

Gritting her teeth, Judy thought hard about her next course of action. Glancing around the corner, Judy watched as Rocket stepped into view, his back to her as he fired a few more shots further down the alley. An idea coming to her, Judy sprang into action, rushing around the corner while Rocket's back was still turned. Before the Racoon could react, Judy lifted her taser and fired it. The prongs of the taser shot forward and slammed into Rocket's back, piercing through his jacket and shirt before digging into his back. A moment later, Rocket let out a choked gasp, his back arching as electricity coursed through his body.

Turning her attention away from Rocket, Judy began brainstorming a way to get down the alley without being shot by the other suspect. Her thoughts were halted, however, when she felt a tug on her taser before it was suddenly ripped from her hands. Looking back at Rocket, she saw the raccoon, the wires of her taser clutched in his hand, yank the prongs out of his back before he tossed the weapon away, sending it clattering across the ground.

Slowly, Rocket turned his gaze towards Judy, a cold chill running down the rabbit's spine as her violet eyes locked with his rage-filled red ones. Then, faster than she would have thought possible, he was on her, his hand wrapping around her throat before, to her utter astonishment, he lifted her off her feet with his one hand.

"That," Rocket snarled, as his grip tightened, cutting off Judy's windpipe, "Was a mistake."

Her eyes going wide, Judy struggled against Rocket's grip, clawing at his hand and kicking at his face with her feet but the raccoon's grip remained iron hard and he seemed to simply shrug off the blows to his face. After a few moments of struggling, Judy's attacks began to become weaker as the edges of her vision turned black.

"Drop her, Rocket!" Nick's voice suddenly burst through the building cloud in Judy's mind and she opened her eyes enough to see the fox's form behind Rocket.

"Or what, Nick!?" Rocket snarled, his attention still focused on Judy, "'Cause let me tell you, if you think that little zapper you've got is going to put me down, you've got another thing coming!"

"What if I use this?" Nick spat, his words punctuated by an ominous click as he pressed one of Rocket's guns against the back of the raccoon's skull.

The action caused Rocket to freeze up before a wide grin spread across his features.

"Well, well, well," Rocket chuckled, "Look at the pair on you, Nick. I honestly didn't think you had it in you."

"Put her down!" Nick demanded as sirens began to sound in the distance, "You hear that, Rocket? This is the end of the line."

"Nah," Rocket replied with a shake of his head, "I don't think so."

With stunning speed, Rocket spun around and slapped the gun to the side with one hand. Before Nick could react, Rocket hurled Judy at the fox, sending both officers falling to the ground. As the two attempted to untangle themselves, Judy taking gasping breaths the whole time, Rocket scooped his guns off the ground before he went racing away from them, disappearing down the alley.

"You okay, Carrots?" Nick questioned as he sat up and looked down at Judy.

"Yeah, I think so," Judy croaked as she sat up, coughing and rubbing her throat with one paw, "Thanks."

"That's what partners are for," Nick stated as he stood up before offering her his hand, "Now, come on. I'm guessing the Chief is going to want to hear all about this fiasco."

"Yeah," Judy replied with a sigh as she took Nick's hand and let him pull her to her feet, "I can imagine his smiling face now."

 _Later,_

"Does it look like I'm smiling, Officer Hopps?" Chief Bogo's deep baritone rumbled.

Judy and Nick sat across the Chief's large desk as he stared them down. His office was spartan in appearance, with only a few framed certificates and pictures hanging from the wall. Dim light filtered in through the partially shaded windows while an old ceiling fan spun lazily above their heads.

"No, sir," Judy replied as she shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

"And can you tell me why that is?" Bogo questioned.

"Because we messed up?" Nick offered.

"That, for lack of a better word, is an understatement," Bogo growled as he stood up and began pacing the room, "An unauthorized hiring of an informant. Entering an unsecured building without a warrant or calling for backup. Failing to secure a suspect. Letting suspects get the drop on you not once, not twice, but three separate times. And what did this all result in? The death of our only lead, the loss of all relevant evidence he had, and two separate suspects at large after a shootout with police. Am I missing anything?"

"We do know who at least one of those suspects is," Nick pointed out.

Bogo paused in his pacing and glared at Nick.

"Thank you, Officer Wilde," Bogo all but snarled, "We do have an APB out for an already wanted criminal now. Good work."

"What do we do now, sir?" Judy questioned.

"There's not much we can do now," Bogo answered as he sat back down, "Vice is still working on the crime scene at the bar, so, with any luck, they'll turn up something new to go on."

"What should we do?" Nick asked.

"You two?" Bogo questioned as he paused and glanced between the two, "You two should go home."

"Go home?" Judy questioned as her brow furrowed in confusion, "But sir, shouldn't we be out there looking for Rocket? He's our only lead!"

"I have more capable officers looking for O'Coon," Bogo explained, "They'll bring him in and we'll get some answers out of him."

"More capable?" Judy repeated, an edge to her voice.

"I learned enough to not doubt your grit and skills, Hopps," Bogo stated, holding his paws up in an effort to placate the bunny, "But O'Coon is different. He's got a rap sheet a mile long and has had more than one altercation with the ZPD in his time. He almost killed you today. I'm not going to risk wasting one of my best officers a second time."

"Sir, you can't be serious about this!" Judy pleaded before turning her attention towards her partner, "Nick, tell him we can handle this!"

Nick did not reply though, instead choosing to glance awkwardly away from Judy.

"Nick?" Judy questioned, concerned.

"I'm going to have to agree with the Chief on this one, Carrots," Nick replied quietly, "I keep telling you Rocket is dangerous. Maybe you need it from someone else too."

"He's a criminal and he needs to be brought to justice!" Judy snapped, glaring at Nick, "I don't care how dangerous he is!"

"Maybe you should!" Nick barked as he turned to return Judy's glare, "I almost watched you die twice today, Judy. This is for your own protection."

"I can't believe this!" Judy said in disgust, "I thought you would have known by now that I don't need your protection."

With that, Judy hopped out of the chair and stormed out of the room.

"Judy, wait!" Nick said after a sigh of frustration before he chased after her.

Bogo blinked in surprise at his now empty office before he snorted in amusement.

"Dismissed," he muttered.

Out in the building's lobby, Nick finally managed to catch up to Judy.

"Judy, wait up!" Nick called out to her, causing the bunny to stop before whirling to face the fox, her glare stopping him cold.

"What do you want, Nick?" Judy questioned dangerously.

"I just wanted to talk to you," Nick replied warily.

"I think you did enough talking when you sandbagged me back there," Judy replied as she crossed her arms.

"I wasn't trying to sandbag you back there," Nick stated with a sigh, "I was trying to protect you."

"I'm an officer of the law, Nick," Judy all but growled, "I don't need you protecting me."

"I'm your partner, Judy," Nick shot back, "Protecting you is literally part of my job description."

"That means you protect me on the street," Judy argued, "That doesn't mean you keep me from going out on the street at all."

"I'm just trying to keep you from getting in over your head," Nick explained, "You don't know what Rocket is like. I've seen what he can do. Today was just a taste."

"We can't just let criminals do as they please because they scare us," Judy stated, "If the police backed off whenever there was danger, we wouldn't be able to protect anyone."

"Maybe you're right," Nick replied with a shrug, "The fact of the matter is that it's out of our hands now."

"Says who?" Judy questioned defiantly.

"Says the chief?" Nick replied as his brow furrowed in confusion.

"Since when were you so straight laced?" Judy questioned.

"Probably since I decided I want to be an officer of the law," Nick observed sarcastically.

"I can't let this one go that easily, Nick," Judy stated with a sigh, "The Night Howlers was our case. Now somebody's taken what happened then and is making it worse. Somebody is already dead because of this. Somebody we know. I have to figure out who's responsible for this, and I'll do it with or without your help."

Nick held Judy's gaze for a moment before rolling his eyes and sighing dramatically.

"Fine, alright, I'm on board," Nick said, "But only because I'm sure this hair-brained scheme of yours is going to get you killed without me."

"Like I said before, Nick, I don't need you to protect me," Judy stated as she crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him.

"Whatever you say, Carrots," Nick replied as he held up his hands in defeat and began walking away, "I'm heading home. Try not to get into any more firefights before tomorrow, okay?"

Judy made no reply, opting instead to glare at Nick's back until he had exited the building.

"Trouble in paradise?" a voice questioned from behind her. Turning around, Judy found Clawhauser standing behind her, looking at her with a concerned expression.

"What makes you say that?" Judy asked in return.

"Well, I may not have those rabbit ears of yours, but I couldn't help but notice that you and Nick weren't exactly discussing the weather," Clawhauser observed.

"It's just a case," Judy replied with a shrug, "It's got us both a little on edge."

"I imagine," Clawhauser stated, "I heard what happened to you. You alright, Judy?"

"I'm fine," Judy answered quickly.

"Right," Clawhauser replied, sounding unconvinced, "Look Judy, I just noticed that you and Nick didn't leave things like you normally do."

"What are you getting at, Clawhauser?" Judy questioned as she looked up at her fellow officer.

"It just seems like I only ever see you hanging out with him, you know?" Clawhauser explained.

"What's wrong with that?" Judy inquired.

"Nothing," Clawhauser answered quickly, "The only thing I'm saying is that if people spend a lot of time together, sometimes they can wear on each other's nerves."

"You think I've been spending too much time with Nick?" Judy inquired.

"Not fully," Clawhauser replied with a shrug, "Just that maybe it would be good if you spent time with other people too. But that's just my opinion. You can take it or leave it."

"Thanks, Clawhauser," Judy said with a nod as she gave him a small smile. The cheetah nodded and gave her a small wave before heading on his way.

As Clawhauser left, Judy felt a buzz in her pocket. Reaching in, she pulled out her cellphone and looked at the notification. Touching the screen, she looked at the picture she had seen earlier that day of her and her old boyfriend. Glancing down at the bottom of the picture, she saw a thumbs up with the name Jackson O'Hare next to him.

Clicking on the name, the image changed to a picture of the rabbit in the photo with her. Glancing above it, she saw a new button labeled message. A thoughtful look crossed Judy's face before a small smile spread across her features and she clicked on the button.

A/N: Another new chapter that had been pretty fun to write. I hope you guys liked it! As always, feedback and critiques are always welcome, so please review! Later!


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